Using GIS (Geographic Information Services) software, seven maps that shaped Thomas Jefferson's conceptions of the West have been transcribed and entered into databases, making them interactive. These processes link locations referenced in Envisaging the West's documents to corresponding points on the maps. By integrating cartographic information with documentary records, notions of landscape, land use, and geopolitics in Jefferson’s era are illuminated in new ways, demonstrating how these constructs changed over time as westward movement and exploration gradually revealed Western geography, pushing back the boundaries of the unknown from the edge of Virginia to the Pacific Coast. Additionally, high-resolution images and a search function make the information on each map accessible apart from the documents and allow the user to explore the maps with ease. In some instances, where locations could not be conclusively identified or when they fell outside ideas of "the West," points have not been geo-referenced on the maps and are not searchable, but the images are presented in full.
1751 | Map Joshua Fry-Peter Jefferson. A map of the most Inhabited part of Virginia containing the whole Province of Maryland with Part of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and North Carolina, 1751 (rev. ed. 1755)
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Albert H. and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia
1755 | Map Lewis Evans. A general map of the middle British colonies, in America, 1755View Image | Interactive Map Forthcoming
Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division.
1755 | Map John Mitchell. A map of the British and French dominions in North America, with the roads, distances, limits, and extent of the settlements, 1755 (1st impression of first ed.)View Image | View Interactive Map
Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division.
1763 | Map Antoine-Simon Le Page du Pratz. A map of Louisiana, with the course of the Missisipi, and the adjacent rivers, the nations of the natives, the French establishments and the mines, 1763View Image | View Interactive Map
Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division.
1776 | Map Robert Sayer and John Bennett. A General Map of the Middle British Colonies, in America. containing Virginia, Maryland, the Delaware Counties, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, 1776View Image | Interactive Map Forthcoming
Images copyright 2000 by Cartography Associates.
1778 | Map Thomas Hutchins. A New Map of the Western Parts of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and North Carolina; Comprehending the River Ohio, and all the Rivers, which fall into it; Part of the River Mississippi, the Whole of the Illinois River, Lake Erie; Part of the Lakes Huron, Michigan &c. And all the Country bordering on these Lakes and Rivers, 1778
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Images copyright 2000 by Cartography Associates.
1786 | Map Thomas Jefferson. A Map of the country between Albemarle Sound, and Lake Erie, comprehending the whole of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, with parts of several other of the United States of America, 1786 (i.e. 1787)View Image | View Interactive Map
Albert H. and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.
1802 | Map Aaron Arrowsmith. A map exhibiting all the new discoveries in the interior parts of North America, additions to 1802.View Image | View Interactive Map
Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division.
1811 | Map Aaron Arrowsmith. A map exhibiting all the new discoveries in the interior parts of North America, additions to 1811View Image | View Interactive Map
Images copyright 2000 by Cartography Associates.
Banner image: From the Collection of The New-York Historical Society. Accession number 1867.306.
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